A Look At The Impact Of The U.S. Shutdown On South Florida

Social Security checks will still be mailed and the exchanges that are central to the the new health care law will still kick into gear Tuesday. But an estimated 800,000 federal employees are being told they can't work because the politicians haven't been able to agree on a way to fund the government.

Credit Fang Zhe /Xinhua/Landov

Much of South Florida may not notice that large parts of the federal government shut down early Tuesday, but Washington’s budget stalemate promises to bring a list of challenges for the region.

Homeless shelters and elder-care agencies are working through cash-flow projections to see how long their reserves will last without ongoing injections of federal aid. Mortgage lenders wonder how they’ll close deals if the IRS can’t verify tax information from borrowers. Tour operators face a loss of businesses over closed federal parks.

“We’ll be able to keep the crew busy for a little while,’’ said Terry Strickland, general manager of the Yankee Freedom III ferry in Key West. The high-speed catamaran makes daily runs to the Dry Tortugas National Park, which was set to close Tuesday for lack of funds. The crew will be assigned maintenance tasks until Tortugas reopens its famous fort and campgrounds.